Kundera's writing career has in large part been determined by the political circumstances of Czechoslovakia under which he wrote. Before becoming a novelist, for which he has won international critical acclaim, Kundera was a poet and playwright His first book of poetry, published in 1953, was denounced by the censors. Nonetheless, he published two more books of poetry, in 1955 and 1957. His first play, written in 1962, was staged both in Czechoslovakia and abroad. His first novel, The Joke, was delayed in publication for several years, due to conflict with the state-sponsored censors. As Czechoslovakia was under Communist rule, any literature not conforming to the strict standards of "socialist realism" was suspect. Socialist realism as a literary standard requires that a story or poem support the principles of Marxism within a realistic setting. The Joke questions Communist society, as it centers around a young man who, as a result...